Senate Theater
13-15 North Second Street,
Harrisburg,
PA
17101
4 people favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Jay Emanuel Theaters
Architects: William Harold Lee
Styles: Streamline Moderne
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The Senate Theater opened April 29th, 1938. The theater was established in the old Russ Building. a building housing storefronts and offices. The upper floors were removed for the theater. The cost to convert the Russ Building into a movie house was $74,700, excluding the cost of clearing the upper floors.
The Senate Theater was owned by Jay Emanuel Theaters of Philadelphia, publisher of several theatrical trade magazines and owner/operator of fourteen theaters. The exterior was sleek with a cool, sophisticated, streamlined facade of structural art glass maroon, orange and black with bronze and stainless steel trim. The interior featured soothing, rose-colored tapestry walls with a fleur-de-lis design and the color-coordinated carpeting.
The first film shown at the Senate Theater was a romantic comedy titled “Joy of Living”. The last show at the Senate Theater the week of Jan. 24, 1988 was an X-rated double feature of “Erotic City” and “Aunt Peg’s Fulfillment”. The Senate Theater closed, and the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority agreed on February 4, 1988, to acquire the building as part of the site for a new hotel. The Senate Theater was razed in April 1988.
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Recent comments (view all 57 comments)
The VIRGIN QUEEN (Bette Davis, Joan Collins, CinemaScope) at the Senate. Coming ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY:
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SENATE Theatre; THIS ISLAND EARTH:
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Also see: my album of Pennsylvania, California, and a few other vintage cinemas around the world + some ads & a bit of memorabilia:
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Here is a new close-up photo of the Senate entrance doors and electric eye:
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Thanks for sharing the picture Ross….I think as a child I was there for a Disney movie…I am betting it was a beautiful theater inside.
Thanks, John. As I’ve said, as I kid I first discovered movies at the SENATE over many downtown Saturday matinees. The re-issues of the Disney classic features and the first releases of PETER PAN, THE LIVING DESERT, etc.
Also of course great UI sci-fi thrillers, several in 3-D.
So for better or worse, it’s still a part of my consciousness.
:)
I recently discovered a few color slides of the Senate I didn’t know I had. Exteriors, such as the one I just put on FLICKr. I’ll add them from time to time.
Wish I had some of the interior. I do remember it was a kind of salmon pink with large white Art Deco lights on the side walls.
Yes, a great little movie house.
“And at a deadly pace"
IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE
to the Senate:
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See also: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39527581@N07/sets/72157626759926351/
Found some new color slides of the SENATE I took in 1982. These are some of the best yet. Here’s a link to one I just added: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39527581@N07/5857116736/in/photostream/
That is amazing! Thanks for the link. The Box Office site looks really interesting.